Hey guys... I just have to share how God is working in those around me today...

So I mentioned yesterday that I'm at a School for High-Risk kids... well... they have a punishment called Social that basically, you do something stupid... you get put on social, you can't talk to the other kids and your kind of in isolation even though you might be around everyone... Anyways... 2 of our older girls have been on it... 1 because she ran away, the other because she was suspected of trashing the principals desk and hiding a machete to use to kill her later... Pretty intense stuff eh??? Anyways. we had a House Council. Basically all the girls came together, sat in a circle, and we talked about issues...

The girl who ran away, has been here 2 yrs already and they haven't been able to get her working on her problems... Today she started opening up... Definitely greatly prodded by the staff, but she got talking. She's been Sexually Abused in her past. She feels it's her fault, She's scared her mom won't believe her. and Right now she's obviously filled with Fear and Shame. But she's started talking :) Step 1 in motion. Praise God.

Girl 2... This is where the excitement truly came in. Evidence was piled all around this dear girl... But she wouldn't confess, and she started getting very Defensive and angry. We started talking, she started getting upset. We changed direction. She talked about the abuse she's experienced. Grew up in Ethiopia, Father Beat her, Stomped on her head, Mom choked her, Tried to suffocate her with spices and blankets, but never to the point of death. She eventually told her mother what she would like to do to her mother... Mother got scared enough to send her and the siblings to an orphanage... There she continued to be abused, physically and sexually. Eventually she was adopted by a family in the USA. But by that time no one knew what to do with this violent, girl that would imagine all sorts of horrible ways to kill people. So the story brings her to this school. The principal reminds her of a mother figure, the one she desperately wants, but because of her past experience with her mother she can only look at her with resent and anger. At some point in the evening we broke for supper, and then returned to eat, and continue trying to get her to confess. She became so defensive and angry that she started getting in peoples faces and yelling... at this point the little girls were becoming scared and so staff held them close. She eventually escalated so much that she exploded. The staff remained calm, the young girls cried softly, and finally after minutes of yelling at everyone and threats, she broke down at some point with "I just want my mommy" to which the principal ran in and held her tight. Finally... we could leave and go to week of prayer. After the WOP meeting... we gathered around and she wanted to apologize for her behaviour... Let me tell you. This is an amazing Girl. She has an incredible strength that I hope she will use with God's help to begin her healing process, and to grow closer to Him. She wants to follow Christ, But she needs alot of prayer, and alot of healing. All week I've been talking with her as she shares verse after verse that she knows, that she treasures, and that she desires to live out.

These Kids have amazing backgrounds. Some perhaps more traumatic then others. But all have the same desire. To know love, to be healed. They just need desperate Help and a whole lot of prayer.
Please keep these kids and so many like them in your prayers.

Ok... So I guess tonight I'm in another thought filled, (don't feel like putting the computer down to sleep...) moods... More I think I just had a friend try to find this blog... (I haven't really told anyone I  know about it... till tonight... I haven't even told her the link ;) ) and so I looked through to see if there was a post I would be more sketchy about letting her see... Not cause I've really got anything to hide... but what if I forgot that one thing... about that one time... that I don't want her, or my friends seeing whats truly behind the face they see each day kind of posts... wow... I could totally do another post on that... hmm... maybe someday I will...  but back to my point...

I ran across my first blog... and in it I said I would share some dreams, that can't be completed on my own... Well here's what I want to tell you... Right now (in my last blog) I told you about that school I'm at right now... I'm visiting cause thats what I want to do with my life. Well before the summer began, I had come up with a dream, a dream to start my own school in my area. Well... for anyone that is a huge task... for someone that lacks motivation in doing anything, that is lazy and not the take charge kind of person... it's ridiculous to even dream such a thing... but I tell you what... I went to work at camp. and I had 1 friend draw me up a suggested floor plan, suggest materials to make it cheaper, offer to come head the building project and honestly... if nothing else... encourage me and help me realize... I've got a good network, I won't be on my own. I came here... I've seen how it's going, how it started... I've realized... yeah it's going to take work, obviously... but I really think it's possible... I've faced the students... and broke down in prayer so many times this summer... just to say, "Lord, if it's just me today, I'm not going to make it. Thank you for giving me the strength to face today." I've said as I look to the future. "Lord, This is going to be an incredibly challenging work I have set ahead, come with me, because I can't do it alone." and I feel completely at peace knowing, that He's right there beside me. Giving me the friends I need, the networks that I need, and He'll continue to take care of everything, from staff, to finance, to the legalities and beyond...

Moral of my tale??? Never be afraid to dream big... I've seen 1 person change the life of many because she had the dream to raise money to build schools... You've heard stories maybe even seen it first hand someone that had a dream to build churches or schools and you've seen how many lives they've changed... If your dream isn't impossible... It's not big enough. If you want to make a difference to someone... Figure out what you really want to help them with, and do it. I wanted to give people hope that there is something better. that there is someone to help, someone to be with them through everything. I've figured out that the best way I can help them... is to teach them. Whats your goal??? Is it something you will need to lean on Christ every moment to complete??? If not... start dreaming bigger. Because half the blessing is knowing Christ brought you through. I know I haven't been through much, but I've been through enough to know that when God is my strength... there's no better blessing.

Lord, thank you for bringing me through so many trials this summer to help me realize what an incredible blessing it is to know that it was by your strength alone that I can keep moving forward.

So... I haven't written for awhile. I've been all over the place this summer, and online blogging was not one of them :P

Right now my travels have taken me to a school that deals with High-Risk Students. They take the tough kids, the ones that have no future where they are at. This school gives them help.

I think my favourite student at this point... Is Faith... She's a girl that grew up in an orphanage, and was adopted into an American home about 3 yrs ago. She has lost contact with her siblings, and she harbours alot of anger inside. She knows she has alot of anger. But I don't think she realizes quite the problem it presents. I don't believe I fathom quite the problem it is, and whats trully going on inside of her. But here is the blessing I have recieved from Faith. She believes in God. She wants to do His will and can quote the bible a million times better  then I can... (probably due to her many punishment assignments :P but still...) I've had a couple good conversations with her and I've read her "diary" the notebook where she keeps her thoughts (that staff are suppose to read to see how she's doing) Yes, most of her "faith" may be glorified so we think she's doing ok... I get that. But when I look at her, I see a victim of this world's tragedies... I see the young woman I could be right now if I hadn't had the home I grew up in and made the choice to follow Christ a long time ago. But through it all... She's living up to her name. Faith. I think I made a different point then my original intended message... but somehow it got lost and maybe this is what God wants me to say instead...

But please pray for Faith. Pray that she is able to let go of her anger and that she lets God lead her where she needs to be. Pray for me, that I may be able to reach Faith in a way that maybe no one else can. Pray for the staff here, that they may be able to have the patience and the strength to deal with Faith and the rest of these kids every day, and that they may be a blessing to and recieve a blessing from each of the students. And last but certainly not least... Pray for yourself, that you may be able to have the faith that a High-Risk student called Faith has.